Do you consider The Last of Us to be a classic?

Maybe it's a silly question, but you can't deny that 200 game of the year awards and many PlayStation gamers citing the game as their new all-time favorite and/or having changed their lives are impressive feats for a new IP.

Personally, I think it's up there with games like Chrono Trigger and GTA III. It certainly makes you think about the journey you've been on with Joel and Ellie and, in my opinion, is revolutionary in how well it marries cinematics, storytelling and gameplay. I also think it's safe to say that it was pretty successful sales-wise since Sony greenlit a movie based on the game and a remaster for the PS4.

I wouldn't put it in my personal top 5, just because it's really hard for me to put aside my nostalgia for older games like GTA III and Skies of Arcadia Legends, but The Last of Us certainly left an impact when I finished playing it. Do you agree or is there a different game you played on the PS3 that comes to mind?

It is just one of those games that stay with you long after you've finished. I think it will go down as one of the best video games ever simply because of the depth of the story. The gameplay is great, but that isn't what sets it apart. As you said, the story and the movie quality of the game is what makes the game awesome. If I think of one game that stands out above everything else from the last generation, it is TLOU.

I personally feel how characters feel , what they think in their mind... When I look at joel's face, I can read his mind. This feeling is awesome. So unique. The other key factor for me is the background, I mean scenery, it is so dead yet lively, definitely has a story, detailed and not repetitive. This game definitely in my top 10 too.

It's a great game but not up there with GTA3, Chrono Trigger, Ocarina of Time, etc. Plain and simply just because of the time they came out everything they did was innovative, it was during a renaissance for gaming. TLoU's whole story itself was over done many times, the game play was like uncharted, and yes it did look beautiful but isn't enough in my opinion to make it a God-Tier. It is an amazing game and I had a blast playing it but I just don't think you can put it in the same bracket as those games.

It's a great game but not up there with GTA3, Chrono Trigger, Ocarina of Time, etc. Plain and simply just because of the time they came out everything they did was innovative, it was during a renaissance for gaming. TLoU's whole story itself was over done many times, the game play was like uncharted, and yes it did look beautiful but isn't enough in my opinion to make it a God-Tier. It is an amazing game and I had a blast playing it but I just don't think you can put it in the same bracket as those games.

that's true.

But,

They amount to cardboard drawings when compared to ^this^. Yeah, the gameplay might not be original in TLoU, no game nowadays can claim that title. it's all been done before.

However, can any game claim to have brought such emotion from the characters, not from the player, that's easy (FFVII i believe?), but to have on screen characters express emotion the way shown in TLoU? To have characters interact the way they do? The old games simply did not have the power to express that.

Don't get me wrong, when Puffy and Sue leave in Grandia, it's quite a sad moment. But it could be so much more if they could actually express themselves by themselves, and not have to rely on really sad piano chords, nor melodramatic OTT dramatic actions.

The Last of Us perfectly executed the "movie-game" genre, but that's still what it was. It didn't do anything new. It just did it extremely well.

And personally, while I was thoroughly entertained playing through the game, it's one of those games that gives me no urge to replay it. In my opinion, the top-tier games are the ones I can play over and over and still want to play again.

They amount to cardboard drawings when compared to ^this^. Yeah, the gameplay might not be original in TLoU, no game nowadays can claim that title. it's all been done before.

However, can any game claim to have brought such emotion from the characters, not from the player, that's easy (FFVII i believe?), but to have on screen characters express emotion the way shown in TLoU? To have characters interact the way they do? The old games simply did not have the power to express that.

Don't get me wrong, when Puffy and Sue leave in Grandia, it's quite a sad moment. But it could be so much more if they could actually express themselves by themselves, and not have to rely on really sad piano chords, nor melodramatic OTT dramatic actions.

Visuals aren't as important as gameplay you can't say a game is good just because it looks good. You're trying to say that because it shows character emotion better than other games that it deserves automatically to be labeled as good as one of the best games of all time. I feel like you haven't played a lot of older games when they came out for you to say that they didn't bring emotion to the players, most of the FF games indeed did do this and FFVII is one of the best examples, that death is claimed to be one of the most emotional moments in gaming history for gamers, sure now it means not much replaying it, but back then that was the best you got and you could almost say it's better because the rest was left up for your imagination and not limited to what you see. And I completely agree most games nowadays aren't original, I enjoy new games nothing against them at all, I just can't see many modern games today getting up to "greatest games of all time".

Like I said I loved TLoU, but gameplay is almost a copy and paste of uncharted, the story is literally predictable, emotional still but it was pretty predictable, it had amazing graphics but doesn't make up for everything else just being honest, it was game of year and I don't see a problem with that (though there were other games on the same level as it honestly) but when you look at it on a larger scale of being one of the greatest games of all time, then that's what it comes down for it not to be.

Visuals aren't as important as gameplay you can't say a game is good just because it looks good. You're trying to say that because it shows character emotion better than other games that it deserves automatically to be labeled as good as one of the best games of all time. I feel like you haven't played a lot of older games when they came out for you to say that they didn't bring emotion to the players, most of the FF games indeed did do this and FFVII is one of the best examples, that death is claimed to be one of the most emotional moments in gaming history for gamers, sure now it means not much replaying it, but back then that was the best you got and you could almost say it's better because the rest was left up for your imagination and not limited to what you see. And I completely agree most games nowadays aren't original, I enjoy new games nothing against them at all, I just can't see many modern games today getting up to "greatest games of all time".

Like I said I loved TLoU, but gameplay is almost a copy and paste of uncharted, the story is literally predictable, emotional still but it was pretty predictable, it had amazing graphics but doesn't make up for everything else just being honest, it was game of year and I don't see a problem with that (though there were other games on the same level as it honestly) but when you look at it on a larger scale of being one of the greatest games of all time, then that's what it comes down for it not to be.

Firstly, don't put words in my mouth. No where did i express "it just looks good". The visuals merely complement the desired emotion warranted from the characters in the story. If they're good, then they're good. end of.
Expressing emotion can be achieved in many ways. The point i drew when bringing up Grandia.

Secondly, don't act like you know what i may, or my not have played. it's not your place to say what my experience is with games. you don't know me, therefore your opinion on the matter is moot.

As a point, i've played games since the famicom; Ocarina of Time, Pokemon, Contra, Spyhunter are some of the many titles i remember as a kid. The only difference being, i don't cling onto old tropes the way others do. I feel gaming has gotten better as an entertainment medium through the generations. As such, my tastes have grown with them.

If you set a rigid standard that it was 'great' simply because it was first. You're never going to progress. Are the old games great, yeah, sure, im sure i said as much. But, as even you alluded to, there is an element of Nostalgic romanticism going on as when you go back and play them. they lack the same feel they once had.

Now with TLoU creating an atmosphere where the player is able to empathize with the character, and understand them, where a subtle facial expression can reveal their true emotion and not the front they put up. Is that not somewhat revolutionary? Yeah, Uncharted did it first, but Drake is a smart ass and has the emotional range of a two year old. Thus never ND explored the areas TLoU goes into. "Graphics" are secondary. TLoU has a level of detail however that brings you closer to the characters. You didn't "imagine" (as you put it), Ellie and Joel simply are. And you gradually understand their characters as you follow them through the story.

It's like comparing Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio. And again, having grown up watching Hakkinen, Senna, Prost and others, i'd still say Schumacher is the greatest. I've grown with the sport and i don't cling to how it "once" was. The New Formula is just as exciting as it was almost 20 years ago in my eyes.

It's one of the most impressive games I've played in years. Will it stick with me like those other titles. I think so. It is in my top 3 for this generation. But I'm not as impressionable as I was back then.

I feel like despite the great story, the game skimped out on making the hard decision at the end. That brought it down a bit for me.

For me, it was just a very good game. I don't think it's to become a gem of gaming that will be labeled a classic and remembered for decades. It's just a very, very solid and great gaming experience that will sit on the PS3 as one of its achievements. Nothing more.

Now with TLoU creating an atmosphere where the player is able to empathize with the character, and understand them, where a subtle facial expression can reveal their true emotion and not the front they put up. Is that not somewhat revolutionary?

I would say no, because those are just non-interactive cut-scenes. Are they greatly written, acted, and motion captured? Perhaps, but those are just movies inside the game. And movies have been doing that for a long time.

It's one of my fav games of all time. Instant classic. It's one of the reasons why I'm going to buy the ps4 version for 60 dollars.

It's so well made that even when it gets upped by a future title, in all areas, that you can go back and still enjoy it because the gameplay mechanics and story telling isn't broken. "It needs to be the first to do something. It needs..." $#@! all that $#@!. It's a gem.

I would say no, because those are just non-interactive cut-scenes. Are they greatly written, acted, and motion captured? Perhaps, but those are just movies inside the game. And movies have been doing that for a long time.

It's not just the cinematics where TLoU expresses emotion. In real time, Tess will order Ellie with a degree of seriousness in her face that sets the tone for the level. Sarah, as she walks around the house, conveys uneasiness about her surroundings. Ellie, when she is scolded by Joel will mope in a corner....the list goes on. The level of detail far surpasses anything seen in gaming.

If you were to apply the same rigid standard of 'first past the post' (as with older titles), that would give TLoU the necessary criteria to classify, would it not? No other game has achieved this level of cinematic immersion (if you will).

If you mean that if it will become a gem like said titles from different generations in gaming then sure. The Last of Us did leave a lasting impression on me. Although personally it was nothing compared to, Nier (Yeah I always find ways to glorify this game).

While fun gameplay is absolutely important, great stories and character development is important too.

Firstly, don't put words in my mouth. No where did i express "it just looks good". The visuals merely complement the desired emotion warranted from the characters in the story. If they're good, then they're good. end of.
Expressing emotion can be achieved in many ways. The point i drew when bringing up Grandia.

Secondly, don't act like you know what i may, or my not have played. it's not your place to say what my experience is with games. you don't know me, therefore your opinion on the matter is moot.

As a point, i've played games since the famicom; Ocarina of Time, Pokemon, Contra, Spyhunter are some of the many titles i remember as a kid. The only difference being, i don't cling onto old tropes the way others do. I feel gaming has gotten better as an entertainment medium through the generations. As such, my tastes have grown with them.

If you set a rigid standard that it was 'great' simply because it was first. You're never going to progress. Are the old games great, yeah, sure, im sure i said as much. But, as even you alluded to, there is an element of Nostalgic romanticism going on as when you go back and play them. they lack the same feel they once had.

Now with TLoU creating an atmosphere where the player is able to empathize with the character, and understand them, where a subtle facial expression can reveal their true emotion and not the front they put up. Is that not somewhat revolutionary? Yeah, Uncharted did it first, but Drake is a smart ass and has the emotional range of a two year old. Thus never ND explored the areas TLoU goes into. "Graphics" are secondary. TLoU has a level of detail however that brings you closer to the characters. You didn't "imagine" (as you put it), Ellie and Joel simply are. And you gradually understand their characters as you follow them through the story.

It's like comparing Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio. And again, having grown up watching Hakkinen, Senna, Prost and others, i'd still say Schumacher is the greatest. I've grown with the sport and i don't cling to how it "once" was. The New Formula is just as exciting as it was almost 20 years ago in my eyes.

So once again you have nothing else to say then feelings, emotions and the VISUALS of the game. What else can you say? Because you just repeat yourself lol. Of course they aren't going to feel the same when they came out, that's why you base it off your first impressions of the game. There is nothing I'm clinging on to, those games came out during an exciting time for gaming, everything was still up for grabs, new and risky things were being tried out and there was no standards like today that is the main reason they have such an advantage over games today. Have you not seen the article where nearly every single protagonist looks the same?
You're being completely ignorant by just pressing this whole "nostalgia" argument and completely ignore the fact that the game just isn't that amazing. The standard is high, that's why they're considered greatest video games of all time for what they did. Atmosphere, visuals and emotions are all nice and much appreciated SIDE features. Nothing more than that, that doesn't make up the whole rest of the game. If that's all you look for in games than you might as well watch a movie, but than again the game is pretty much just a movie...

That picture you posted, they don't all look the same. There are some similarities but also differences. It's like if you were to pick 20 faces of characters from JRPGs or animes all consisting of teenagers.

A game doesn't have to be completely original to be a classic. I will never say that everything has been done, but every original idea draws from other sources of inspiration, so it's never going to be possible to be completely original. But these pieces can still set themselves apart in their execution, and The Last of Us does exactly that.

At a time when we are flooded with zombie content across every medium (games, movies, books, tv shows), the fact that The Last of Us can poke its head into a genre packed with stereotypes and cliches and still rise above it all, even embracing some of those cliches in the process, while bringing me one of the best gaming experiences of my life, makes it even MORE impressive to me.

That picture you posted, they don't all look the same. There are some similarities but also differences. It's like if you were to pick 20 faces of characters from JRPGs or animes all consisting of teenagers.

In the end of the day how different are they? They have more similarities than differences. And JRPGs and anime are just as guilty of it, not like I'm defending them. The overall point was just to show that how unoriginal most games are nowadays. I'm not saying video games suck because they do this, just pointing it out. I like pretty much every character in that chart.

Originally Posted by Shibby

A game doesn't have to be completely original to be a classic. I will never say that everything has been done, but every original idea draws from other sources of inspiration, so it's never going to be possible to be completely original. But these pieces can still set themselves apart in their execution, and The Last of Us does exactly that.

At a time when we are flooded with zombie content across every medium (games, movies, books, tv shows), the fact that The Last of Us can poke its head into a genre packed with stereotypes and cliches and still rise above it all, even embracing some of those cliches in the process, while bringing me one of the best gaming experiences of my life, makes it even MORE impressive to me.

I agree with you, it was executed well even with all the zombie movies and games and it's a great game. I just don't think it's a classic, I felt more like I watched a movie. That's what comes down to my opinion. Years from now I could be wrong and everybody will still be talking about the game or it will be barely talked about, that's what will determine if it's a classic.

I've already gone on record and stated that this game took the crown for my favorite game in ~30 years of gaming. The game was able to draw me in on an emotional level that VERY few have ever gotten close to doing before. Shock value in past games? sure. But past games didn't have the advantages of today to convey the level of emotion that was meant to be experienced. The death of Aeris in FF7. The death of Crono in Chrono Trigger. When the twins (who I leveled like crazy I might add) sacrificed themselves in FF4. All these moments made my jaw drop, but none actually had me tearing up.

TLOU actually got me choked up more than once. I had never shared emotion before with a character on screen till this game. I would come to work having played ahead of my coworkers so I could hear their experience in the same scenes I had just gone through. I have watched numerous people on youtube post playthroughs of this game with live commentary to see the expressions on their faces and hear their reactions to what was happening on screen live.

From a gameplay stand point, it may not have forged its own path.
From a story stand point, it may have taken from cliches and tropes of existing zombies stories.
But to claim this game had no meaningful impact on the gamers that played it and therefore couldn't be considered a timeless classic to be brought up in conversation years from now? I find that difficult to believe.

So once again you have nothing else to say then feelings, emotions and the VISUALS of the game. What else can you say? Because you just repeat yourself lol. Of course they aren't going to feel the same when they came out, that's why you base it off your first impressions of the game. There is nothing I'm clinging on to, those games came out during an exciting time for gaming, everything was still up for grabs, new and risky things were being tried out and there was no standards like today that is the main reason they have such an advantage over games today. Have you not seen the article where nearly every single protagonist looks the same?
You're being completely ignorant by just pressing this whole "nostalgia" argument and completely ignore the fact that the game just isn't that amazing. The standard is high, that's why they're considered greatest video games of all time for what they did. Atmosphere, visuals and emotions are all nice and much appreciated SIDE features. Nothing more than that, that doesn't make up the whole rest of the game. If that's all you look for in games than you might as well watch a movie, but than again the game is pretty much just a movie...

it's pretty funny to call someone who's criteria is quite broad ignorant don't you think? I've never said once that the old games were bad, or terrible. Neither have i said they weren't significant to the industry. However, that in no way classifies them as being in an exclusive group of the 'greatest' simply for being first. that standard is too rigid and does not facilitate the obvious problem with a progressing medium.

Originally Posted by Effekt

So once again you have nothing else to say then feelings, emotions and the VISUALS of the game.

Highlight it any way you want, as i've said before, the visuals merely complement the intended tone and atmosphere. For which TLoU stands unrivalled.

I'd have to ask what you think of starfox given your stance on the matter, where would you class that out of curiosity? In fact, i'd have to call you on that. What made Zelda, better than Starfox?

NOTE: When i said "others" in my previous post, i did not mean "you". if i meant you, i would say "you". I was merely referring the industries love for comparing content to that from the past. Which is a ridiculous sentiment that explains why COD managed 9/10 for year on end....it did so for being first past the post.

Also, i don't know what it has to do with anything. but i'll humour the Brown eyed, brown hair protagonist topic:
Blonde hair and Blue eyes are genetic defects, thus are overwritten by the more predominant gene for brown eyes and brown hair. ergo, Blonde hair and Blue eyes are recessive genes gradually falling into extinction. While it's never as clear cut as that in reality, as you end up with some rather beautiful colour variations, the end result is still the same: Most of human kind has brown hair, and brown eyes....a rather simple and obvious fact.....therefore the argument makes no sense. This isn't 'new' either. It's been happening since the cave men.
It's sorta kinda the same for gingers, but they are derived from a lack of Vitamin B (or D, i forget which) which gives them their pasty white complexion and dislike for the sun, again i don't know what my hair colour has to do with how great a game is, but i digress :/

Last edited by Fijiandoce; 04-16-2014 at 01:14.
Reason: rephrased question

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